Reading Brendan Clifford’s article about the BICO in the August issue of the Irish Political Review jogged a few memories. I was a comrade of Eddy Spence in the Sixties: He was a member of the Communist Party of Northern Ireland (CPNI) and I was in its youth wing the Communist Youth League (CYL). As Brendan Clifford points out, Eddy … Continue reading Red Eddy—Gusty’s Brother
Books
Letter To The President: Choose Your Casement!
Introduction In his 2016 lecture on Casement, former Attorney General Michael McDowell cordially invited listeners “to imagine and even to judge his real character as we choose …”: in short, he invited us to ignore verified facts about the historical person and to thereby deceive ourselves by freely choosing whatever imaginary Casement took our fancy. Essentially the choice was … Continue reading Letter To The President: Choose Your Casement!
The Brian P. Murphy OSB Archive (Series 9)
The Evolution Of British Policy And The Emergence Of A Sinn Fein Publicity Department In The Years After The Easter Rising. Mss Notes, Part 31 A New British Administration, May 1920 The appointment of Hamar Greenwood to succeed Ian Macpherson as Chief Secretary on 2nd April 1920, and the arrival in Ireland of General Macready to … Continue reading The Brian P. Murphy OSB Archive (Series 9)
The Casement Diaries: Fake Truth – The Case Of Mr. Germain
On 23rd July 1959 British Home Secretary R.A. Butler made an important announcement to the House of Commons concerning the controversy about the obscene diaries attributed to Roger Casement. Besides admitting their existence for the first time, Butler briefly described the diaries and commented on how and when they had come into police possession. He … Continue reading The Casement Diaries: Fake Truth – The Case Of Mr. Germain
A Side-Issue In The Casement Story: McCormick And Grayson
In last month’s Irish Political Review I focused on the career of J. Arthur Maundy Gregory, who became famous by selling more knighthoods and other titles of honour than anyone else in Great Britain. Previous to that, he was probably involved—under the direction of Basil Thomson, head of Scotland Yard—in forging the 'Black Diaries' attributed to Roger Casement. I set out below … Continue reading A Side-Issue In The Casement Story: McCormick And Grayson
Concerning the Black Diaries
The book, “Anatomy of Lie – Decoding Casement” by Paul R. Hyde published in 2019 creates a new paradigm for assessing the infamous case of the alleged Black Diaries of Roger Casement; it establishes the case that there is no verifiable evidence that these diaries existed in 1916 before Casement’s execution. Hyde makes a convincing … Continue reading Concerning the Black Diaries
The Brian P. Murphy OSB Archive. (Series 9)
The Evolution Of British Policy And The Emergence Of A Sinn Fein Publicity Department In The Years After The Easter Rising. Mss notes, Part 29 The Hunger Strike And Its Aftermath The Hunger Strike—which lasted from 5th to 14th April—proceeded in tandem with the MacCurtain inquest. While [Frank] Gallagher wrote encouraging letters to his fiancée, … Continue reading The Brian P. Murphy OSB Archive. (Series 9)
The Brian P. Murphy OSB Archive. (Series 9)
The Evolution Of British Policy And The Emergence Of A Sinn Fein Publicity Department In The Years After The Easter Rising Mss notes, Part 28 The Propaganda Battle Over The Death Of Thomas MacCurtain Following MacCurtain's funeral, nb date, which was marked by a united display of sympathy that crossed the divide of republicans and … Continue reading The Brian P. Murphy OSB Archive. (Series 9)
The Real Roger Casement!
Book Review: Casement by Angus Mitchell, Haus Publishing, 2026 The publication of this book is a timely antidote to the distorted image of Casement that has been presented in recent books, which portray him as a fragile person who was desperate to latch onto any cause to escape his mental frailties. An example of the … Continue reading The Real Roger Casement!
Basil Thomson And Maundy Gregory
In previous articles in this series I sketched the personality of Sir Basil Thomson, who was head of Scotland Yard in 1916 and the main interrogator of Roger Casement. He was a man of remarkably wide professional experience and much intellectual curiosity. He was also a gifted writer. Intellectually, Thomson was committed to defending the global power … Continue reading Basil Thomson And Maundy Gregory